Dr. Murray Feingold: Research brings new light to birth order, only children

Tuesday

Aug 24, 2010 at 12:01 AMAug 24, 2010 at 9:02 AM

There are pros and cons of being an only child. The child certainly gets more parental attention, but there is also the chance of being spoiled.

Dr. Murray Feingold

There are pros and cons of being an only child. The child certainly gets more parental attention, but there is also the chance of being spoiled.

Concerns have also been raised that being the only child negatively impacts on the child's social skills because of not having the opportunity to interact with siblings.

One study has shown that children in kindergarten who did not have siblings had poorer social skills than those who had at least one sibling.

If this finding is true, how long does it last?

A recent study was done to determine if these poorer social skills were still present in adolescence. Students in grades 7 through 12 in 100 schools nationwide were evaluated to help answer this question.

The conclusion of the study was the social skills of adolescents who did not have siblings were the same as those who did have siblings.

Researchers believe that children without siblings learn a great deal about getting along with others while socializing with them between kindergarten and high school.

Therefore, although they may not have the experience of interacting with others prior to attending kindergarten, they did have many opportunities to interact thereafter.

There are also questions concerning what affect a child's birth order may have on his or her intelligence or personality.

Historically, U.S. presidents and Nobel science laureates were overwhelmingly found to be first-borns. Also, 21 of the first 23 astronauts were first-born children.

Results of studies on this subject have been controversial.

A recent study agreed with the results of some previous studies that showed first-borns tend to have higher aptitude scores than their siblings. In this study, personality differences were also present between first-borns and their siblings.

They were found more likely to be perfectionists, while younger siblings were more extroverted, sentimental and open to new experiences.

Then there is the infamous middle-child syndrome.

The middle child supposedly doesn't get all the attention that is heaped upon the first-born and doesn't get away with as much as the last-born.

Arguments continue whether the middle-child syndrome even exists.

Because there are so many variables that impact on how parents raise their children, it is difficult to prove the significance of being the only child or first-born.

But hopefully, no matter the number or position of the child, parents will always try to do their best at being a good mother or father.

Massachusetts-based Dr. Murray Feingold is the physician in chief of The Feingold Center for Children, medical editor of WBZ-TV and WBZ radio, and president of the Genesis Fund. The Genesis Fund is a nonprofit organization that funds the care of children born with birth defects, mental retardation and genetic diseases.